Truth or Dare with JJ
by cedricsowner
Summary: Written for the New Year's Resolution Challenge on CCOAC. Prompts: David Rossi & Jennifer Jareau; Rossi wants to make up with a hellish ex-wife. JJ helps him. Well, sort of... one-shot.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds and intend no copyright infringement. **

Six days after New Year a horrible case – _Have we ever had a non-horrible one?_, Reid mused in an idle moment during the flight – forced them to set up camp in the middle of nowhere, Minnesota. They found the unsub at a reasonable time, before he could wreak any more havoc than he already had and everybody was inclined to see that as a good omen for the coming twelve months. The local sheriff definitely interpreted it that way – thanks to the FBI his re-election was in the cards after all.

Of course he would play the "thanks to the FBI"-part down in public, but these Feds were nice guys, they'd understand.

Garcia had gone with them on the road this time, to make sure they'd get all the technological support they needed – the unsub apparently used virtual social networks as a hunting ground, but the final decision to go after a certain victim was influenced by local factors that had to do with the usage of certain pin codes at the bank, the post office, the library. Reid had seen the mathematic pattern, but Garcia had been able apply it to locations in the area.

It's safe to say they were in a fairly good mood when they got ready to leave. And then the snowstorm of the century came down on them...

No electricity, no working heaters and outside the wind was howling like a hundred wolves. All they could do was sit huddled together in Hotch's hotel room, wrapped in all blankets available. Garcia had rounded them up there, claiming that loss of body heat could result in serious consequences and sitting alone in an icy-cold room was not only uneconomical but also dangerous. They had the feeling Reid was in cahoots with her, those statistics on the relevance of body heat and dropping room temperature came rolling out a little too fast, even for the good doctor. It was probably no coincidence either that Garcia seated herself right next to Morgan, who chivalrously shared his extra-large blanket with her.

Can you say "hidden agenda"?

When Garcia suggested "Truth or Dare" to pass the time, however, she definitely tipped her hand. Morgan played along nevertheless. Fighting not to smile too broadly and thus giving away that he was seeing through her, he chose "dare" and ended up with her under a mistletoe, leftover from Christmas.

The two took their time, but be that as it may, nobody was enjoying the whole thing more than JJ. Henry was at her parents' and she had nothing waiting at home for her except sullen Will, wanting to sort through their belongings so they could get on with the separation. This was definitely the better place.

It was Rossi's turn to step up and JJ's turn to either ask a question or make a challenge. Rossi quickly chose "truth" after Hotch had ended up having to go down to the hotel lobby and ask the woman at the reception (the owner's mother-in-law) to take a look at the liver spot on his back.

"What was your New Year's resolution?", JJ asked after some thinking.

"Can I change back to "dare"?", Rossi asked, shifting uneasily in his seat. His eyes were twinkling a little, though. Trust JJ to look at him and find a weak spot in his armor. He had to admit, she was very good at that. She had hit another weak spot of his about a year ago. But with her affiliation to that New Orleans detective… no go. He was long past ruining other people's relationships. Speaking of...

"Making up with Marla", he replied grumpily.

"Marla from hell?", Hotch blurted out before he could stop himself. "Your second ex-wife?"

"Come on, Aaron, she wasn't that bad."

"_You_ called her that! On your wedding day!"

Rossi sighed. "I'm not talking about renewing our wedding vows here. It's just… the thing with Carolyn has taught me that life… can pass very quickly… what's the point of maintaining grudges because of stuff that's long over and done? I'm going to send her flowers as soon as I get back… with a ticket to a concert she enjoys. Box seat. And chocolate, too, of course. Haven't arranged anything yet, though – it's been awhile and I'm not sure anymore what she likes."

JJ fell very silent after that – nobody really noticed, the challenge Reid had to face at Morgan's request was just too good.

Except Garcia, that is.

As everyone enjoyed the sight of Reid trying to flirt with the next woman that came up the staircase, Garcia took JJ aside.

"What if more comes out of it than a simple mending of fences?", JJ mumbled. "What if I left Will too late?"

"Don't worry, darling", Garcia grinned evilly. "Just tell him you'll help him to figure out what his ex-wife likes and leave the rest to me."

About a week later, David Rossi received a telephone call in the conference room. Since Hotch had just officially ended the meeting, Rossi took it. The part of the conversation they could overhear was very insightful:

"I'm really sorry, Marla, I didn't know you don't like yellow gerberas… I thought they were your favorite flowers… no, not at all since you lost a gardening competition because of Eunice Waldorf's yellow gerberas?... And you hate dodecaphonic music? Your professor at college made you write an essay on it and then gave you a C for it? Totally ruined your grade point average?... I swear I didn't know you're allergic to pistachios!"

When Rossi finally managed to finish the rather one-sided conversation, he immediately scanned the room for a certain petite blonde… who had opted for ordered retreat in the meantime.

That evening, however, JJ's doorbell rang and she didn't need much imagination to guess who was standing outside. What did surprise her, though, was the bottle of wine Rossi had with him. She had expected him to be mad and had already plotted a "cooling down the Sicilian volcano"-strategy with Garcia. This was an interesting development… and a bit unsettling…

"So, what brought you here?", JJ asked reluctantly as he poured the wine.

Smiling to himself, Rossi wordlessly handed her a glass, sat down in front of her and studied her.

He wasn't teaching interrogation techniques at FBI academy for nothing. Sometimes the best technique is profound silence. Combined with a very thoughtful stare.

JJ couldn't take it for long. "Rossi…"

"I thought we'd play another round of Truth or Dare, Cara…"


End file.
